NEW VIDEO - Disabled lamb back on her hooves after rescuers build her an off-road wheelchair
An adorable lamb left disabled in a freak farming accident is back on her hooves after learning to use an off-road wheelchair.
Rosy, a one-year-old Suffolk breed, broke her back leg while gamboling in a field and lay undiscovered for hours overnight.
While lying hidden from view a crow pecked one of her eyes out and she was attacked by another unknown animal in June.
Her broken leg healed incorrectly and she was left unable to stand properly so was taken to The Rescue Ranch in Hatton, Warks., for help.
Ranch manager Susan Franks, 53, was concerned Rosy was unable to graze so fitted her with wheels.
Staff modified a "dog wheelchair" to accommodate her fleece to enable her to get about the farm unaided.
Susan, who runs the rescue centre with partner Jules, said: "Rosy was on a farm and the worker noticed she'd been attacked in a field.
"A crow had pecked her eye out and she had a broken leg. She was in a bad way when he brought her to us.
"Her leg had healed badly and she was struggling to walk at all on her other feet.
"The broken leg was fused and mended badly so she was very unstable.
"We had to get a vet in straight away. We’ve only had her a month. She’s very brave, she reaches up to us for treats now.
"The vets say they think she may have been down in the field in the night when she hurt herself and was left out on her own when a crow pecked her eye out.
"She’ll never gain any sight in that eye. Some of her face was attacked as well so she's been through the wars a bit.
"As soon as she arrived here, I thought to myself 'what on earth am I going to do to get her walking?'
"We thought we needed wheels so we thought we should use a dog wheelchair. A kind lady donated us a set of wheels and we made a few adjustments for Rosy.
"We strapped her inside the frame and ever so slowly we encouraged her to take a few steps. She responded really well.
"We thought brilliant, this is how to get her walking again."
Susan hopes Rosy can make a full recovery and will join the likes of goats, rabbits, sheep and dogs at the sanctuary.
She added: "We’ve had to get her some bigger wheels, which will get her walking. We’re hoping this is temporary.
"It’s not ideal for her to have this as a permanent situation, it wouldn’t be fair of her.
"Our main aim is to get her walking without wheels. We’ve seen a 50 per cent improvement all over really.
"A vet comes once a week to give her physio so she's getting stronger and more confident but for now she relies her wheelchair to get herself around the farm.
"At the moment she's really happy and enjoying life. She's enjoying he wheels, she loves her food and all the attention.
"We're hoping that the physio might get her walking on all four legs again and she won't need the wheels so she can join the rest of the flock on the farm."
Rosy, a one-year-old Suffolk breed, broke her back leg while gamboling in a field and lay undiscovered for hours overnight.
While lying hidden from view a crow pecked one of her eyes out and she was attacked by another unknown animal in June.
Her broken leg healed incorrectly and she was left unable to stand properly so was taken to The Rescue Ranch in Hatton, Warks., for help.
Ranch manager Susan Franks, 53, was concerned Rosy was unable to graze so fitted her with wheels.
Staff modified a "dog wheelchair" to accommodate her fleece to enable her to get about the farm unaided.
Susan, who runs the rescue centre with partner Jules, said: "Rosy was on a farm and the worker noticed she'd been attacked in a field.
"A crow had pecked her eye out and she had a broken leg. She was in a bad way when he brought her to us.
"Her leg had healed badly and she was struggling to walk at all on her other feet.
"The broken leg was fused and mended badly so she was very unstable.
"We had to get a vet in straight away. We’ve only had her a month. She’s very brave, she reaches up to us for treats now.
"The vets say they think she may have been down in the field in the night when she hurt herself and was left out on her own when a crow pecked her eye out.
"She’ll never gain any sight in that eye. Some of her face was attacked as well so she's been through the wars a bit.
"As soon as she arrived here, I thought to myself 'what on earth am I going to do to get her walking?'
"We thought we needed wheels so we thought we should use a dog wheelchair. A kind lady donated us a set of wheels and we made a few adjustments for Rosy.
"We strapped her inside the frame and ever so slowly we encouraged her to take a few steps. She responded really well.
"We thought brilliant, this is how to get her walking again."
Susan hopes Rosy can make a full recovery and will join the likes of goats, rabbits, sheep and dogs at the sanctuary.
She added: "We’ve had to get her some bigger wheels, which will get her walking. We’re hoping this is temporary.
"It’s not ideal for her to have this as a permanent situation, it wouldn’t be fair of her.
"Our main aim is to get her walking without wheels. We’ve seen a 50 per cent improvement all over really.
"A vet comes once a week to give her physio so she's getting stronger and more confident but for now she relies her wheelchair to get herself around the farm.
"At the moment she's really happy and enjoying life. She's enjoying he wheels, she loves her food and all the attention.
"We're hoping that the physio might get her walking on all four legs again and she won't need the wheels so she can join the rest of the flock on the farm."
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FunTranscript
00:00 I'm Susan Franks and I run the Rescue Ranch and this is my partner.
00:09 And I help run the Rescue Ranch, I'm Julian Amos.
00:12 And we've been doing this feat of, I don't know what it is, rescue for 27 years.
00:22 We were told that she could walk a little bit and she'd had her eye pecked out and she
00:26 needed help.
00:27 The farm worker asked if she could come to a sanctuary and get the care that she needed.
00:33 She was a little worse than we thought.
00:36 When she arrived she'd got maggots in her feet, which is a common thing in summer, you
00:41 know, fly strike happens to sheep and it's a thing you've got to be on top of all the
00:46 time and be vigilant over.
00:49 But she'd had a broken leg that had fused badly so she needed, it obviously got infected as
00:55 well.
00:56 She couldn't walk on any of her legs because all four legs were useless at the time.
01:01 We've been exercising every day with one of these wheels.
01:04 They're dog wheels really.
01:07 Yeah, they're made for dogs that have lost their use of their wheels.
01:14 But they work great for Rosie.
01:16 We need, we're just about to modify them because they're having larger wheels all the way around
01:21 there.
01:22 So she can get over the long grass.
01:23 Come on, you're not trying.
01:26 Come on, there we go.
01:30 Since she's been using them her front legs are now really good.
01:32 Yes.
01:33 Very strong.
01:34 So she's now got the strength back in her front legs which she hadn't got when she arrived
01:38 and she's only been here a month.
01:40 So in a month she's gained the use of her front legs and her back ones are getting stronger
01:45 and we've now, since having x-rays done, the vet came last Friday to x-ray her, the physio
01:51 now knows what she's working with and she's prepared to do some physio with her on a weekly
01:56 basis so hopefully these wheels are only temporary.
01:59 It's looking quite bright isn't it?
02:00 Yeah, we can get her walking unaided soon.
02:02 We don't take any money for ourselves.
02:04 As long as we can get vet bills which are our biggest costs, you know, if we can get
02:08 help towards that and things that are desperately needed that's usually our biggest aim.
02:12 Winter's on the way and there's hay and straw and feed and everything.
02:16 It always gets far more expensive in the winter to do this.
02:19 It's a struggle.
02:20 It's a bit of a mess sometimes but it's so rewarding because the therapy that you feel
02:26 just from being around them is priceless really and seeing them get better and when they look
02:32 up into your face and they give you that look of trust and love that they didn't have when
02:36 they arrived, some of them, it's the biggest reward ever.
02:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]